Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Monday, 27 April 2020
24-4-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HAIRY ROSE BEETLE (Tropinota squalida)
Tropinota squalida is a species of beetle belonging to the family Scarabaeidae, subfamily Cetoniinae.
These beetles are mainly found in France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, former Yugoslavia, Spain, in the Near East and in North Africa. They are not present in North or South America.
Larvae feed on roots, while the adults can be encountered from May through July feeding on flowers. They are 10–15 millimetres (0.39–0.59 in) long. The adults are considered an agricultural pest in many zones. They eat the flowers of a variety domestic plants, notably fruit trees, apple, pear, cherries, quince but also strawberries and flowers such as roses and irises. They will eat the pistil, stamens and petals leaving no possibility for fruit production. After feeding they will return to the soil in the area and come out again within a few days if the temperature is warm enough and continue feeding. Head, scutellum and elytra are dark-brown, with a thick and long tawny hair on elytra and abdomen. Elytra show two series of white spots on the sides of the central hull. Scutellun is rounded and hairy, but glabrous in the posterior. The fifth humeral slot is bifurcated.
Sunday, 26 April 2020
26-4-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HORSE CHESTNUT MOTH (Pachycnemia hippocastanaria)
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Pachycnemia hippocastanaria (Horse Chestnut Moth) is a small geometrid moth with a 28–32 mm wingspan, appearing in grey, brown, and red tones. Native to European heathlands, it has two broods (April-May, August) and feeds on Heather (Calluna vulgaris), not Horse Chestnut trees. It is distinct from the invasive Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner (Cameraria ohridella).
Key Facts about Pachycnemia hippocastanaria
Appearance: A relatively small, slender-bodied moth with a wingspan of 28–32 mm. The forewings are typically a mixture of grey, brown, and reddish tones with darker markings.
Habitat: Primarily found in warm, dry, open habitats such as heathlands.
Distribution: A southern species in Britain, restricted to heathlands in the southernmost counties. It is also found in various parts of Europe.
Life Cycle: It is double-brooded, with adults appearing in April and May, and a second, sometimes smaller brood appearing in August.
Larval Foodplant: Contrary to its name, the larvae feed on heathland plants, specifically Heather (Calluna vulgaris) and Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix).
Behaviour: Both males and females are attracted to light.
26-4-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SMALL WHITE BUTTERFLY (Pieris rapae)
Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, on several continents as the small cabbage white, and in New Zealand as the white butterfly. The butterfly is recognizable by its white color with small black dots on its wings, and it can be distinguished from P. brassicae by the latter's larger size and black band at the tip of the forewings.
The caterpillar of this species, often referred to as the "imported cabbageworm", is a pest to crucifer crops such as cabbage, kale, bok choy and broccoli. Pieris rapae is widespread in Europe and Asia; it is believed to have originated in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Europe, and to have spread across Eurasia thanks to the diversification of brassicaceous crops and the development of human trade routes. Over the past two centuries, it spread to North Africa (about 1800), North America (1860s), Hawaii (1897), New Zealand (1930), and Australia (1937), as a result of accidental introductions.
15-3-2017 GANDIA RIO SERPIS, VALENCIA - WHITE WAGTAIL (Motacilla alba)
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The White wagtail is a slender bird with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. There are a number of other subspecies, some of which may have arisen because of partial geographical isolation, such as the resident British and Irish form, the pied wagtail M. a. yarrellii, which now also breeds in adjacent areas of the neighbouring European mainland. The Pied wagtail exchanges the grey colour of the nominate form with black (or very dark grey in females), but is otherwise identical in its behaviour. Other subspecies, the validity of some of which is questionable, differ in the colour of the wings, back, and head, or other features. Some rraces show sexual dimorphism during the breeding season. As many as six subspecies may be present in the wintering ground in India or Southeast Asia and here they can be difficult to distinguish.
White wagtails breed throughout Eurasia, only being absent in the Arctic. They also breed in the mountains of Morocco and western Alaska. These birds are residents in the milder parts of their range such as western Europe and the Mediterranean, but migratory in much of the rest of their range. Northern European breeders winter around the Mediterranean and in tropical and subtropical Africa, and Asiatic birds move to the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. Birds from the North American population also winter in tropical Asia. White wagtails occupy a wide range of habitats but are absent from deserts. They inhabit grasslands, seashores, rocky shorelines, sand beaches, tidepools, rivers, lakeshores, farmland, gardens, and parks. They are also often found in towns and villages.
Friday, 24 April 2020
24-4-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - RUNNING CRAB SPIDER (Celerrimus duffeyi)
Celerrimus is a monotypic genus of European running crab spiders containing the single species, Celerrimus duffeyi. It was first described by S. Lecigne, J.-F. Cornic and P. Oger in 2019.
Celerrimus duffeyi is a species of running crab spider found in Europe, and it is the sole species within the monotypic genus Celerrimus.
Key facts about Celerrimus duffeyi:
Taxonomy: It belongs to the family Philodromidae, commonly known as running crab spiders.
Discovery: The species was first described and named in 2019 by Lecigne, Cornic, and Oger.
Nomenclature: The genus name Celerrimus likely refers to its agility as a running spider, while the species name duffeyi honors Dr. Eric Duffey, a noted British arachnologist and pioneering spider ecologist.
Habitat: While specific details for this exact species are limited in the search results, other spiders in the Philodromidae family are free-living, agile spiders commonly found on plants or on the soil surface.
Distribution: The species is recorded as present in Western Europe.
Physical Description: No specific physical description of Celerrimus duffeyi was available in the provided snippets; however, other members of its family typically have a white to red-brown carapace and white to dark brown legs with annulations (ring-like markings).
Thursday, 23 April 2020
14-4-2018 CHOBE RIVER, NAMIBIA - HIPPOPOTAMUS (Hippopotamus amphibius)
The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) (/ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs/; pl.: hippopotamuses; often shortened to hippo (pl.: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis). Its name comes from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος).
After elephants and rhinoceroses, the hippopotamus is the next largest land mammal. It is also the largest extant land artiodactyl. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, the closest living relatives of the hippopotamids are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises, etc.), from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. Hippos are recognisable for their barrel-shaped torsos, wide-opening mouths with large canine tusks, nearly hairless bodies, pillar-like legs, and large size: adults average 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) for bulls (males) and 1,300 kg (2,900 lb) for cows (females).
Hippos inhabit rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps. Territorial bulls each preside over a stretch of water and a group of five to thirty cows and calves. Mating and birth both occur in the water. During the day, hippos remain cool by staying in water or mud, emerging at dusk to graze on grasses. While hippos rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos typically do not display territorial behaviour on land. Hippos are among the most dangerous animals in the world due to their aggressive and unpredictable nature. They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory (canine teeth).
23-4-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - DOUBLE STRIPED PUG MOTH (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)
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The double-striped pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a widespread and common species, being found throughout the Palearctic region, including the Near East and North Africa.
This is a variable species but always easy to recognize due to the two prominent dark fascia across each forewing which give the species its common name. The forewing ground colour ranges from light to dark reddish brown. The crosslines are distinct. The inner margin of the pale white sub-marginal line bears black marks. The hindwings are pale grey with darker fringes, darker lines and a small black discal spot. There is a dark band across the basal segments of the abdomen. The wingspan is 15–19 mm.
The caterpillars reach a length of up to 17 millimeters and have a very variable basic colouration. It ranges from whitish to yellowish green, brown, red to purple. On the back there is a pale band marked with a series of dark diamonds or triangles. The drawing resembles a rear-facing trident, is sometimes crow-foot-like and can occasionally be only weakly formed. The head is yellowish brown.
Two, sometimes three, broods are produced each year and the adults are on the wing in April and May (sometimes earlier), July and August, and sometimes later in the autumn. Later broods are more heavily marked. It flies at night and is attracted to light and flowers, both of its food plants and others.
2-6-2017 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)
Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.
V. cardui is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America. In Australia, V. cardui has a limited range around Bunbury, Fremantle, and Rottnest Island. However, its close relative, the Australian painted lady (V. kershawi, sometimes considered a subspecies) ranges over half the continent. Other closely related species are the American painted lady (V. virginiensis) and the West Coast lady (V. annabella).
Larvae feed on Asteraceae species, including Cirsium, Carduus, Centaurea, Arctium, Onopordum, Helianthus, and Artemisia.
The painted lady uses over 300 recorded host plants according to the HOSTS database.
Adult butterflies feed on flower nectar and aphid honeydew.
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